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The Software Toolworks
| founder = Walt Bilofsky | defunct = | hq_location_city = Sherman Oaks, California | hq_location_country = U.S. | parent = Pearson plc (1994) | website = }} The Software Toolworks was an American computer software company started in February 1980 in Sherman Oaks, California. Best known for its Chessmaster and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing programs, the company was acquired by Pearson plc in 1994. History Started in February 1980 in the converted garage of Walt Bilofsky in Sherman Oaks, California, Bilofsky began by offering adapted pieces of software for the Heathkit H89 computer in a hobbyist newsletter. The software offered ran on the Heath operating system HDOS, and was expanded in January 1981 to support Heath and generic CP/M. By 1982, it supported the Osborne 1 computer. Early products included Bilofsky's adaptations and extensions of Ron Cain's Small C ("C/80") and Tom Crosley's full-screen Programma Improved (or International) Editor ("PIE") whose design was in turn based on "ned", the Rand Editor for UNIX.The CRT Text Editor NED, RAND Corporation report R-2176-ARPA An associate, Dave Kittinger, contributed MYCHESS. Company milestones * The name "The Software Toolworks" was first used in July 1980. * In 1981, Toolworks published a version of ELIZA, the early AI conversation simulator written at M.I.T. by Joseph Weizenbaum. The script was originally published in Weizenbaum's article in the Journal of the ACM, which then owned the copyright. * In 1982, Jim Gillogly ported the UNIX version of the game Adventure, originally written by Will Crowther and expanded by Don Woods, to HDOS and CP/M. * In October 1986, show business personality Les Crane's company Software Country merged into Toolworks, then owned by Bilofsky and Joe Abrams, with Crane as Chairman. Software Country had been founded in 1983 on Crane's dining room table. Software Country had previously published two products, I Ching and Software Golden Oldies Vol. I which consisted of Pong, Life, Eliza and The Original Adventure, the latter two licensed from Toolworks * In 1986, Toolworks began developing Chessmaster 2000, originally intended to be marketed by Software Country. * In October 1986, Chessmaster took on the Toolworks label. The following month, Chessmaster won the PC division of the U.S. Open Computer Chess Championship in Mobile, Alabama. * In September 1987, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, produced for IBM PC's, was conceived by Norm Worthington and written by Worthington, Bilofsky and Mike Duffy ("Three guys, three computers, three beds, in four months"). Mavis, believed by many to be a real person, was created by Crane to personalize the program. Having an African-American woman on the cover created marketing issues in some areas, which were resolved with the success of the program. * In 1988, Software Toolworks went public (NASDAQ: TWRX). * By 1994, 48% of revenue at Toolworks was from PC- and CD-ROM products, and 42% from cartridges. * In April 1994, Toolworks was purchased by Pearson plc for $503 million. Under Pearson, the company assumed the Mindscape name by November 1994. Acquisitions In its time, Toolworks acquired the following properties: * Intellicreations (Bruce Lee and The Hunt for Red October), November 1988 * DS Technologies (March 1989) * Mindscape (March 1990) References Category:Software companies of the United States